12 Complaints About Life In Nebraska That Only Locals Understand
By Delana Lefevers|Published October 18, 2017
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Delana Lefevers
Author
As a lifelong Nebraskan, Delana loves discovering the many hidden treasures of her state. She has worked as a writer and editor since 2007. Delana's work has been featured on more than a dozen websites and in Nebraska Life Magazine.
We love living in Nebraska. It’s one of the most underrated states in the country, and as such there are plenty of things about it to love that most people just don’t realize. Even our beloved Nebraska has a few things that we could probably live without, though. You won’t catch us ever admitting these to out-of-staters, but these are the things that we find worthy of the occasional complaint.
We hear questions like "Where IS that, anyway?" and "Do you all ride horses and fight Indians?" from people who aren't from here and have clearly never cracked a history book or a newspaper. We get the last laugh, of course, but good gravy does this get annoying.
It's one of those things that we actually miss when we move away, but the wind can get awfully tiresome when you're dealing with it every single day. Sometimes it seems like it lasts for months with no break at all.
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3. It seems like there are a million miles between here and there when you're in a hurry.
As much as we love our small towns, the quiet country life, and the isolation, it can be a drag to travel between places. If you live in one town and work in another, that commute can be a killer. (Then again, we can always make the best of things and enjoy some music or a good audiobook while we drive!)
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4. You never really know what season it's going to be tomorrow.
Just because the calendar says it's almost November doesn't mean you're safe settling into a daily uniform of hoodies and jeans just yet. Likewise, May doesn't mean you're anywhere close to wearing shorts comfortably.
5. Consequently, we have to make some pretty interesting wardrobe choices.
Personally I enjoy the deafening buzz of cicadas in the summer, but not everyone is so fond. And I think we can all agree that the hordes of Japanese beetles and box elder bugs are the worst.
Sometimes it seems like they run out into the road in front of your car on purpose. We feel sorry for the deer, but it's hard to feel too sympathetic when one has just totaled your car.
8. If you can avoid the deer, you may still fall victim to the pothole.
Extreme temperature and moisture changes cause these chasms to open in the pavement. Depending on where you live, they can develop into the size of a small pond before they're actually fixed.
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9. Even with all of the holes in the road, there's somehow always road work going on.
Yes, we know it's silly to complain about the broken roads and the crews that fix them, but they're equally annoying. Being forced to take a detour of several miles every day for months is enough to make anyone hate the sight of orange barrels and cones.
Small town life is awesome...but don't expect it to come with much of a nightlife. The only place likely to be open past 8pm in most towns is the bar. (And if you've ever tried to hang out in a small-town bar late at night, you'll know why that doesn't exactly qualify as top-notch nightlife.)
This is a legit complaint - living in Nebraska, surrounded by friendly, helpful people and a family-like atmosphere, doesn't really prepare you for life in other, less-great states. But most of us have figured out the solution to that: we stay here and love it!
The good always outweighs the bad here in the Cornhusker State, and we wouldn’t trade The Good Life for anything. Even these minor annoyances are nothing compared to the things we love about Nebraska. Need a reminder of some of the best things about living here? Take a look at this list from the archives.
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